Patrick Brown

[Citizenship and Immigration, March 23rd, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, Filipino Canadians work hard to build this country. A recent example of nanny abuse was shocking. We know that nannies had substandard working conditions, had their immigration status threatened and passports confiscated so they could not flee.

Today the Toronto Star reveals that one of the nannies was coerced into a gag order, preventing her from talking to media or law enforcement. Alarmingly, this all happened in the house of a member who sits across the floor in the Liberal caucus.

Can the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration tell this House what the government's position is on immigration abuse?

[Abolition of Early Parole Act, February 15th, 2011]

Madam Speaker, the member for Ajax—Pickering is very eloquent at putting his point out but he is skirting around the bottom line, which is that it is certainly not fair in any sense that someone who has committed a serious white-collar crime would be eligible for parole after one-sixth of the sentence. I do not think any resident of his riding would find that fair. That is what it comes down to. Someone who has been sentenced to 12 years would be eligible for parole at two years. That is not appropriate and I do not think any Canadian would find that to be an appropriate sentence.

Members can flaunt all the U.S. statistics that they like. They can mention California or New York but this is the House of Commons. We are in Canada. An obsession with U.S. statistics may serve well in the U.S. Congress, but we should look at what works here in Canada. Certainly Canadians and residents in Ajax—Pickering would not believe it is appropriate to simply slap someone on the wrist for a serious crime. We need to take serious crime seriously, and that is what this bill is about.

[Volunteerism, February 9th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I want to take this opportunity to recognize an exceptional volunteer.

Bill Dwyer spent his early years with the British army, where he fought in Italy during the Second World War. He was later posted to Base Borden and was part of the Canadian army for 20 years.

After a lifetime of serving in the armed forces, Bill then continued to serve his community through his outstanding fundraising efforts for charitable causes.

As of 2010, Bill played an active role in the Greater Barrie Chamber of Commerce, the Optimist Club of Barrie, the Kiwanis Club of Barrie, the Rotary Club of Barrie and has been a long-time volunteer at the Royal Victoria Hospital.

At the seniors awards gala in Barrie this year, he was given the award of heroism for his efforts. Bill has raised $517,000 since 1982 for the Terry Fox Foundation alone.

Today I want to give a special thanks to Bill Dwyer who has done so much to support charities in Barrie and raise awareness for causes close to his heart.

[Great Canadian Beaver Race and Festival, December 7th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, this past fall my riding of Barrie in Ontario was proud to host the first ever Great Canadian Beaver Race and Festival. This was a weekend of festivities all celebrating being Canadian, with a focus on the iconic beaver.

Over the course of the festival, approximately 7,000 people participated. Ten thousand rubber beavers took to the water and floated down the river at Heritage Park. One hundred per cent of the funds raised by the Great Canadian Beaver Race and Festival went to the Rotary Club of Barrie and were used to support over 25 community projects, organizations and local initiatives. In its very first year an astounding $65,000 was raised.

I am proud to say this race and festival will continue every year. This event is truly a demonstration of people who understand what it means to be part of the community. I would like to give special thanks to the organizers, Krista LaRiviere, John Rockburne, Shea Thurlow, Mike Kinsey, Mark Campbell, Gerry Pilon, Steve Thompson and Taylor Quinn, for all their hard work.

[Taxation, November 22nd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, recently at the Vaughan Chamber of Commerce, Tony Genco, the Liberal candidate, said in regard to taxes, “We can't afford to increase them”. Now the Liberal candidate is trying to hide from his Liberal leader's job-killing tax hike agenda. The Liberal leader said, “We will have to raise taxes” and “I'm not going to take a GST hike off the table”.

Could the government tell us what would happen under the Liberal plan to raise taxes?

[Copyright, November 3rd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to modernizing our copyright laws to protect Canadian jobs and ensure we remain a leader in today's digital economy. Unfortunately, the only proposal that has been brought forward by the coalition partners is a new tax that would make Canadians pay every time they purchased an iPod, an MP3 player, computer, any device that plays music.

Could the Minister of Canadian Heritage tell the House what our position is on this tax on consumers?

[Breast Cancer Awareness, October 5th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Breast Cancer Network is urging all parliamentarians to recognize October 13 as the first national metastatic breast cancer awareness day. As part of this initiative, the Canadian Breast Cancer Network hosted a metastatic breast cancer awareness event on Parliament Hill today.

Metastatic breast cancer is an advanced breast cancer that appears in other parts of the body. An estimated 30% of women globally who are first diagnosed with earlier stages of breast cancer develop it. Women who receive this diagnosis often feel isolated, without specialized information, proper psychological support or timely access to treatment.

I encourage my colleagues to support the efforts of the Canadian Breast Cancer Network and recognize October 13 as metastatic breast cancer awareness day in Canada.

May I also say how proud I was of the 2,109 Barrie residents who attended the annual CIBC Run for the Cure in support of breast cancer research this past Sunday. This year's run raised $319,000. Congratulations to everyone involved.

[Multiple Sclerosis, June 14th, 2010]

Mr. Chair, I thank the member for Ottawa—Vanier for his balanced comments tonight. I appreciate his recognition of the leadership we have seen on research by our health minister, even in the midst of recession, of increases to CIHR.

I want to know his perspectives on whether there should be a federal role in the technical advisory committees for provincial health ministries and whether he believes there should be a national role. He talked about the role of convening. The Minister of Health is showing that with the conference. Having the top academics and researchers at provincial levels, academic levels involved in that conference will really probe this discussion.

In terms of authorization of treatment, I am curious whether the hon. member would support the perspectives of Aileen Carroll, for example, one of his former colleagues in cabinet. She suggests that the Ontario government should immediately authorize that treatment. Does he believe that is the case and should there be a federal role in the technical advisory committee?

[Multiple Sclerosis, June 14th, 2010]

Mr. Chair, in terms of federal leadership and in terms of more research, the health minister said, “all applications possible, please apply”. On convening a conference, the best academics and researchers, the brightest minds in the country, are gathering this summer.

However, what I cannot believe is how, in light of this federal leadership, the member failed to answer the question of my colleague. Have she taken the time, even two minutes, to write a letter to her premier, Danny Williams, to say that she believes the Newfoundland technical advisory committee should say this treatment merits a look at? Has she written Danny Williams to say that she wants the Newfoundland College of Physicians and Surgeons to say that physicians are allowed to do this? Or are you simply here to make statements? Are you simply here to ask questions instead of actually helping your constituents?

[Multiple Sclerosis, June 14th, 2010]

Madam Chair, I agree with Dr. McDonald but I would also agree with what MPP Aileen Carroll said, the provincial Liberal member of Parliament, a former federal MP. She wrote a letter last week imploring her premier, Dalton McGuinty, to allow treatment. She said that this was not a federal issue. She said that it was up to the province to endorse treatment.

The member may want to ignore a former colleague but that is a member of the provincial Liberal caucus saying that it is their job to look into treatment. It is our job to lead on research. If they do not want to listen to me, they should listen to Aileen Carroll.